The Pittsburgh Steelers made surprising news on Friday as the team traded QB Kenny Pickett, its first-round selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, to the Philadelphia Eagles. On the heels of that trade, let’s quickly look at the salary cap ramifications.
Pickett was set to count $3,836,701 against the Steelers’ cap in 2024 ahead of him being traded away on Friday. Almost $1 million of that — $985,000 to be exact — was his base salary. Pickett still had two years of rookie contract signing bonus proration on the books ahead of the trade and that totals out to $3,705,602. That is now the total amount of dead money the Steelers will have on the books for Pickett in 2024 as the full amount escalates forward with this deal happening before June 1.
All told, and prior to Pickett being displaced in the Rule of 51, the Steelers will gain $131,099 in 2024 salary cap space by trading him. Just so you know, a player with a 2024 salary cap charge of $915,000 will displace Pickett in the Rule of 51 once the deal officially hits the books.
By trading for Pickett, the Eagles now own the rights to his fifth-year option. A decision on exercising that, however, isn’t due until May 2025.
Asa a result of that Pickett trade, the Steelers now have just one quarterback under contract for the 2024 season. That’s Russell Wilson, who officially signed his one-year, $1.21 million contract with the team on Friday morning. The Steelers will now look to add three more quarterbacks to their roster ahead of trading camp getting underway later in the summer.
I will have a full 2024 salary cap update on the Steelers as soon as the outstanding numbers related to a few contracts belonging to new and re-signed players are reported.
